A garda “facilitated” an extortion phone-call which was later used as the basis to arrest a Co Donegal murder suspect, the Morris Tribunal heard today.

THE Morris Tribunal is investigating how Eircom home phone records containing vital information were erased.

The Special Criminal Court has ordered that convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan should pay more than €17m within a year after finding that he had benefited from importing 17,500 kilos of cannabis into the country over a two-year period.

The Special Criminal Court was told today that two former protected witnesses are outside the jurisdiction and unavailable to give evidence at the hearing of an application to confiscate assets of a convicted drugs dealer.